February, a month that is known for love, appreciation, and gratitude, is the perfect month to talk about our square and round dance volunteers. Without our volunteers, this activity we all love could never take place, since each dance or event is organized by at least one volunteer. During the 27 years that Tim and I have been square dancing, we have had the privilege of volunteering with many great groups of people from the club level all the way up to the National Level. Two things all of these wonderful people have in common is a love of square dancing and a desire to put on the best dance or event you have ever attended. Before I write one more sentence, I want to say thank you to each and every one of our volunteers. You are appreciated more than words can express.
Between January and March, most of our clubs, councils, and the state will be looking for volunteers to hold office for the next year. Some of the positions are in leadership while some are in support. Please consider where you can help, and say “yes!” if someone talks to you. Even if you just want to dance, there is a perfect position for you that does not take any time away from your dancing but will be a huge help.
If you are shy about volunteering to be an officer, another way to volunteer is to help put on a festival or special dance event. You don’t have to be the chairman or a member of the board - you could be the cookie baker who makes the cookies that the callers and cuers enjoy during their breaks. The point is we need volunteers at all levels to keep our activity strong.
If you are debating whether you should volunteer or whether you have anything to contribute, the answer is a resounding YES. We need you, want you, and appreciate you whether you are volunteering for 5 minutes or for a year. Those of us who are perpetual volunteers need to encourage, accept and mentor our new volunteers who are brave enough to step forward.
Volunteers – Thank you!
Kathy Roberts
OFSRDC President
I want to make you all aware of a scam that is being aimed at our square dance clubs. The scammer sends an email message to the club treasurer, claiming to be from the club president, saying something like "please send a check for $XXXX to our vendor at such-and-such an address." The problem is, even though the message has the president's name, it's not the president's email address, and it's easy to miss that. One TVC club lost nearly their entire treasury to this scam.
We must be vigilent. If you get a check request like this, double check that the email address is the correct one. Until this thread passes, clubs might consider limiting check requests by email, or requiring validation by phone, or maybe by having a special code word that must be present in all check requests.
Starting this month, you can find a return of the "Caller's Corner" that used to appear in the printed OFN. Janienne Alexander has agreed to take on the position of Caller Liaison to the Federation. As part of that position, she'll be sharing with us tidbits of helpful information from the caller's point of view.
Click here to find out how to get your information into the OFN, including dances, lessons, photos, flyers, advertisements, and caller/cuer information.
We have set up an email mailing list to notify people when a new edition of the online OFN is available, and for other important news about the OFN. To subscribe to this mailing list, just fill out this information:
At Mid-Winter Festival, the 2018 Randall Award was presented to Elaine & Bill Funk. Our congratulations to Elaine for this well-deserved recognition!
The Federation's next executive board meeting will be at Mid-Winter Festival, January 28, 2018. The next meeting will be on April 29 in Port Orford.
Start planning for Mid-Winter Festival 2018, January 26, 27 and 28, 2018.
The Emerald Empire is putting on a Trail's End Dance on January 25, always a good time.
Oregon's 2018 Summer Festival will be held at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass on June 22-24, 2018. Watch here for more details. Download your registration form here.
All clubs in the Oregon Federation are required to maintain their status as non-profit corporations with the State of Oregon. The Secretary of State's office mails out a renewal notice about a month before your registration expires every year. The following clubs expire this month:
February 1 -- Emerald Empire Council
February 7 -- Klamath Country Squares
February 26 -- Tualatin Valley Council
Download a complete list of the Federation club dances this month, all sorted by date and city.
Everything in the When & Where is extracted from the state directory information. If you find that your club information is wrong, you can fix that by going to the directory information area and fixing your data.
Hello, Janienne Alexander here, Caller Liaison for the Oregon Federation of Square and Round Dance Clubs. I am an active member in the caller associations in Washington and Oregon as well as CALLERLAB, International Association of Square Dance Callers. I have been asked to share with our councils, clubs, dancers the different topics that are being discussed amongst the callers. When we all work together it makes for an enjoyable lasting activity that we can use to build up our communities and pass on to younger generations.
The following is a condensed article from Steve Noseck, Washington Caller. My comments are in italics.
Top Tips for Dancing Longer into the Night
#1 "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" The Beatles weren't even Square Dancers and they knew about #1. This is the #1 reason squares break. Every chance you get gently hold your partners hand.
#2 "It's A Small Small World" Disney got this, that smaller not bigger is much better, keep your square/wave/lines/partner near you. Less steps Less work, more dance. I see lines where you can fit another square in between them! That means I have to take 4 - 5 steps before I can star thru. What if I only had to take one? Could I keep up with the music timing if I keep my square smaller? Yes!
#3 "One Step Forward Two Steps Back" by Desert Rose Band, great song but, No,No,No,No - move forward first (some exceptions). When in doubt, put both hands up and move forward. Someone will gently catch you.
#4 "I Walk the Line" Johnny Cash got it. When your square goes down, go to a line, as quick as gentle and as quiet as you can. You cannot catch up to the missed calls BUT you can lower the number of calls you miss.
#5 "I will be Right here waiting for You" by Richard Marx. This activity is dominated by your "right" hand. When in doubt use your right hand first. If I, or other Callers want you to use your left we usually call "Left", like Left swing thru or Left Square thru. Again some minor exceptions.
Next month, I'll chat about the use of a "singles board".
Janienne Alexander
Caller Liaison
Click on the title to see the article.
Barbara Alice Kleve, a long-time square dancer and wife of caller Harold Kleve, passed away on December 20, 2017.
Barbara Kleve was born on May 17, 1935 to Daniel Boone Tissington and Recie Mildred Tissington in Choctaw, Okla.
She is survived by her son, Michael Anthony DeDona; daughter-in-law, Amanda Marie DeDona; grandchildren, Star Lyn Peeler, Jackie Wayne Peeler Jr., David Newton Pearson, Roger "Bud" Raymond Crump, Roxanne Michelle (Crump) Galaviz, Ethan Michael DeDona, Vincent Michael DeDona, Lance Ellis Cline and Briannah Lynn Cline; great-grandchildren, Bretton Keffer, Christopher Shoemaker, David Downing, Kristeya Underwood, Vincent Barreto, Garrett Padgett, Bradley Finan, Nivea Baretto, Lydia Barreto, Braydon Lockwood, Corey Pearson and Skyler Brooks. She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold T. Kleve; son, Jackie Wayne Peeler; daughter, Deborah Ann Jessee; and grandchildren, Chesta Coral Peeler and Anthony Wayne Young.
A memorial service will be at 3 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, at the Orchid Ballroom of the Oregon Garden of Silverton. Arrangements with Unger Funeral Chapel.
Please sign the online guest book at www.oregonlive.com/obits.
Earl Restorff was born on October 3, 1931, and passed on December 27. A celebration of life will be held January 2 at 11 AM at St John's Lutheran Church in McMinnville.
Walter Jay Stimler, long-time cuer with his wife Bonnie, passed on December 26. He was borh March 18, 1945. A celebration of life will be held on January 19 at 1 PM at Redeemer Lutheran Church on Lancaster Drive in Salem.
You can download this list of callers and cuers who are available and ready to call or cue a dance for you.
Callers:
Cuers:
February's Oregon Round of the Month is "Farewell Waltz", by the Columbia Ballroom Orchestra, Phase II+2 Waltz (hover and interrupted box), choreographed by Bob and Linda Berka. This was chosen by the Interstate Highlanders Council. Download your cue sheet here.
For more information on the Round of the Month, please contact .
Everything in this section is taken from the state directory information. If you find that your class information is wrong, you can fix that by going to the directory information area and picking to the "Lessons" tab.
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 17 (3rd Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)
March 10 (2nd Sat)
March 17 (3rd Sat)
March 24 (4th Sat)
April 15 (3rd Sun)
May 25 (4th Fri)
August 9 (2nd Thu)Click a thumbnail to download the flyer.
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Click a council name to go directly to that section.
Our next scheduled dances are June 30, September 29 and December 29. We'll have to decide whether or not we';ll actually have a dance December 29 since New Year's Eve is just a couple of days later.
Our current board is President - Linda Putzler, Vice-President - Sandy Eddings, Secretary - Christina Corelli, Treasurer - Gail Jackson All all woman board.
We do have fairly new callers and cuers who have joined CCCA and call and or cue at our Fifth Saturday dances. We have a CCCA meeting prior to the dance.
Keep on dancing, calling and cueing for FUN
Christina Corelli
Secretary - CCCA
Happy dancing!
Christina Corelli
Member-At-Large
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)
Just had our election of officers and Mary Ellen Ramseyer remains our president for
another year. Jan Fiedler will remain our Vice President. Pam Owens will be our new Secretary and Georganne Pfnister remains our area representative. We will be having our semi-annual meeting on Saturday, February 3 at 10:30 to discuss the upcoming demo season and the choice of songs for it. We will also be discussing demo outfits and other things for the good of the order.
We still have not been able to locate a permanent instructor for the club, so Glee Johnson has taken over the 4 o'clock class, Grace Allen still works with the beginners and Stacey Larson and Moya McKeehan share the intermediate class. It looks as though we will not be starting another beginner class in February as we did last year, but we are looking forward to the steady attendance we have been having. Georganne Pfnister
February is very special for our club as it is the month of our Birthday Dance, on February 24! We'll be dark on February 10 for the Sweet Home Birthday Dance.
Thanks to all who have hosted the New Dancers' dances; they've been a lot of fun! We're looking forward to our coast trip March 9-10 at Gleneden Beach Community Club, and all are welcome! We're dancing there both Friday and Saturday nights. Karen
February 24 (4th Sat)
In February and March we will be dancing on the first and third Saturday nights with a Hippie dance and the "Girls Night Out" calling on March 17. See you in a square! Marilyn York
February 3 (1st Sat)
We had a board meeting in November and discussed our schedule and may make a change with the start of a new rhythm in March. Possibly jive followed by slow two-step for the summer. Plus we may change our lesson time to 6:30, dance phase 3-4 at 7:30, and dance phase 4+ and easy 5 at 8:30. Will see how the winter makes it through January. Stay tuned for the possible changes.
A lot of our members will be at Mid-Winter dancing with the guest cuer, TJ Chadd and her husband, Bruce. We look forward to finding out what they plan to share with the dancers.
We hosted a New Year’s Eve dance and had several dancers there to enjoy the evening of fun and friendship. See pictures elsewhere in this issue of who came to visit the dance. We hope that 2018 will be a good year for all concerned. Keep dancing and come see us. We enjoy company. Marilyn Schmit
Our youth are starting practices Tuesday evenings at the Waldo Hills Community Center, Silverton 7:00 -9:00 pm and Sundays at Maplewood Grange, Aurora 6:00-8:00 pm. If you are a youth ages 8-19 and are interested in joining us in competing this year, contact Karyn Buchheit at 503-873-5241 or buchheitfarmkm@gmail.com for more information. You need to be able to dance at least mainstream level. There is more than one level in competition and Karyn will assign you to a square team according to your level of dance experience.
Our youth fundraiser dance will be Sunday March 4. Please watch for the flyer and come support us. We will also have a silent auction/basket raffle as well as drawing the winners for our cash raffle. Catch one of us at a dance to purchase a raffle ticket.
We still have Teen Festival pins for sale - catch us at a dance. These are both a fundraiser for us as well as your ticket into the Teen Festival so that you can watch! See you at a dance soon. Petrina Buchheit
February 9 (2nd Fri)
February 2 (1st Fri)
February 16 (3rd Fri)
February 23 (4th Fri)Willamette Squares regular dance is the fourth Saturday evening of each month in Salem at the Square Dance Center. After going dark in December because of the holidays, and in January because of Mid-Winter, we will be back in the saddle, so to speak, for the month of February, and are looking forward to our regular fourth Saturday evening dances resuming in 2018, full of good times on the dance floor.
We have come around the homestretch with our lessons. Both square and round dance lessons will reach completion by January 21. Graduations will take place first, after the final round dance lesson, and second, after the final square dance lesson on the evening of the 21st. We hope many of you can make it to cheer our graduates on and congratulate them on their accomplishments. On February 4, new round dance lessons consisting of the waltz and hosted by Willamette Squares at the Salem Square Dance Center will begin. There will be no further square dance lessons until next fall.
We are saddened to hear of the recent deaths of a number of our square dance family. Earl Restoff and Jay Stimler have a history with us. Earl used to accompany his wife, Goldie, who at one time was our cuer. Jay used to cue for our club, and he and his wife, Bonnie, used to teach round dance lessons for us. I recall, in particular, whether cueing or teaching rounds, Jay, with a twinkle in his eye, always told a joke or riddle to engage us right away. Once in awhile he would get on a roll, and after a bit, Bonnie, with a similar twinkle in her eye, would interrupt him with a comment like, "Okay, that's enough, Jay!" We'd all laugh with twinkles in our eyes and promptly move on to the lesson or song. Great times were had and great memories created.
We wish everyone a prosperous new year filled with lots of square and round dance steps under each one's belt. We send yellow rocks to all of our square dance families. Jodee Howard
February 24 (4th Sat)
February 23 (4th Fri)
Flory Flounce
February 7 (1st Wed)
Here is a recap of some fun dances we had these past two months. The black light dance in November was a blast and well-attended. If you ever have a chance to attend one, I highly encourage it. We had a dance in December that we call the "Senior Appreciation" dance where we take in donations from club members of toiletries, crossword books, jigsaw puzzles, lap blankets, Etc. We had a fabulous turnout of donations which we then donated to Woodland Assisted Living and Arbor Ridge Assisted Living. These are two senior facilities that have mostly low-income residents. The activity directors are so appreciative of the donations - every resident gets something.
We will have our annual pie eating contest on February 3rd. We will be dark on February 17th because there is a clogging event in our Hall that weekend so we plan a visitation on the Friday of that week. Our Silver Anniversary dance will be Saturday, April 21st.
Our beginner class is doing well and will graduate on Sunday 1 / 14 / 18 at 6 pm.
Our club welcomes Dorothy Lowder back as cuer for our dances on the first Saturday of the month. It is great to see Dorothy and Hoyt again.
The Bees were proud to see Carol Zelmer receive the Bob Kendall Award from the Evergreen Council.
In December we started doing every third tip as a plus tip. We have been doing plus lessons on Sundays. The plus class is not yet ready to graduate as our beginner class is, so the lessons will continue. We welcome all plus dancers to be angels at lessons and to the club dance.
Debbie Broers
February 16 (3rd Fri)
March will bring another Murder Mystery Dance. The Crazy 8 Players are at it again! This time, we will be performing an original play by our Cut-Ups Presidents and rumor has it that it is a funny show! They have leaked the name of the play, “Who Blew Up the Outhouse?” and it is set in the Old Wild West. This year there will also be a dinner following. The Country Cut-Ups are planning to build an outdoor dance floor to help beat the summer heat and the Murder Mystery will be a fundraiser for this. Buy your tickets in advance for $15 for the play, dance, and dinner. If you procrastinate, you can pay $18 at the door. Scott Zinser will be calling and you all will be voting to see is you can figure out whodunnit! You don’t want to miss this event!
We are accepting donations for the Annual Barn Sale which helps to fund upkeep on our old Boring Barn. This structure will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2019! Come out and enjoy the historic ambience on the 1st, 4th, or 5th Saturdays.
Beverly De La Bruere
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 22 (4th Thu)
February 24 (4th Sat)
Both dances in February are part of a special month for our Hopper members, for we are more than just a square dance club. Throughout the year our members contribute both time and material goods to our community. For example, not only do we sort food for a local food bank, FISH, several times during the year, but February is our annual food drive for another food bank, the North Clark County Food Bank. During both dances in February we collect canned goods which are delivered to the food bank at the end of the month. We’re hoping to make this year a “banner year” and surpass the number of pounds of food we have collected in the past.
Jean Tolstrup
February 3 (1st Sat)
For February, the Oaky Doaks will be starting the month off with Round Dance lessons beginning on Thursday, February 1st, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Oak Grove Community Center. Connie Clark will be teaching Cha Cha and Rhumba. Please call: 503-310-5672 if you have any questions about the class.
On Saturday, February 3rd, the Oaky Doaks will be celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early with our “Choc-a-lot Valentine” dance. Caller will be Janienne Alexander with Cuer Molly Combs. Pre-Rounds are at 7:00 pm, Mainstream with Rounds are from 7:30 to 9:30 pm and Break is at 9:30 pm. So, will you be our Valentine and join us at the dance?
February 17th, the third Saturday of the month, we will be dancing to Caller Mark Wheeler and Cuer Julie Stiers. Pre-Rounds are at 7:00 pm, Mainstream with Rounds is from 7:30 to 9:30 pm and Break is at 9:30 pm.
If we don’t see you in Albany for Mid-Winter we hope to see you at one of our events in February.
Gary - Oaky Doaks Visitation Committee
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 8 (2nd Thu)
We enter our new year with enthusiasm and excitement as we warmly welcome our new club caller Darrell Kalmbach and his wife Erin to our River City Dancers family. Darrell will be calling each of our club dances from now on . Please come dance with us any second and third Saturday at our hall at Milwaukie Community Center and help us welcome Darrell and Erin.
Darrell will be away on Saturday March 10 for only that one dance and Ian Craig will be our guest caller for that dance. Darrell will be calling all our other dances, so come enjoy.
Carol Mendenhall
February 4 (1st Sun)
Progress is being made for the upcoming "Fifth" Friday dance in March. More information to follow as it is received.
There is also progress on this June's Summer Festival. More information to come later.
We are still asking people to come out and support the new classes. We had a couple new classes start in the Rogue Valley in January and "Angels" would be very helpful.
PLEASE support the Council and the Clubs in the Rogue Valley. Everyone needs all the support they can get. Times are "skinny", so, please come out and help by supporting your local clubs.
The next Council meeting will be February 6, 2018 at Denny's Restaurant on Biddle Road at 4:30pm.
There are still "Learn to Square Dance" t-shirts available. I have quite a few 2X's. We have found the t-shirts are a great conversation starter.
Lois & Lorri
We had a great dance with J Domis & Mary Nutt on January 6. J is a lot of fun and it's always a pleasure to get him over to the Charlies! Our next dance in January is the 20th with Richard Lane & Steve Murphy. This is our Plus & Advanced dance, with a new start time of 530 for Advanced. Pre rounds at 630 and we will dance until 930 followed by a night out at Shari's.
February 3rd we will have our Super Souper Bowl Dance with Phil Ramey & Mary Nutt. Chili Cook-off starts at 530. Come and enjoy some great food and wonderful friends. Pre Rounds at 630 and we dance til' 930.
Our very specials guests Jet & Sylvia Roberts will be joining us on February 17th!! This is going to be a wonderful dance!! We are so excited!! Jet will be calling Advanced from 530 to 630. Prerounds with Rikki Lobato @ 630 and Alternating MS & Plus with Jet & Sylvia until 930. Then we will put out the tables and enjoy a potluck and the company of great friends.
Looking forward to MidWinter at the end of January.
See you in a square!!
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 17 (3rd Sat)
A few of our members are sick and some are healing. Our thoughts are for those people.
Classes are plugging away and some of our newer dancers have gone up to Medford for dancing. Happy to see them going up there as well.
Our next dance is February 17, our Valentine Dance with rounds at 7 and squares at 8. There will be a board meeting at 5:45pm.
See you on the dance floor.
February 17 (3rd Sat)
The Rogue Squares "Pajamarama" was a great SUCCess. There were "new" students all the way from Roseburg to Yreka. This was our annual "Pajamarama" and we will most likely make it an "annual" dance for beginners. All clubs were invited to bring their class to this dance. The new student dancers didn't have to worry about having "square dance" attire, they just wore their "jammies". Phil Ramey was in his "glory" doing what he does best — working with new dancers.
We are really excited about the line-up of callers for the club dances for February and March. We will be dark in April for Pear Blossom.
See you in a square!
Lois
February 9 (2nd Fri)
Mid-Winter is behind us and our Birthday Dance is February 24th with Lawrence Johnstone and Rikki Lobato. Come spend the evening with us and enjoy some great calling and cuing.
April brings Pear Blossom and May brings Boatnik and June brings Mid-Summer right here in Grants Pass and of course July brings Diamond Lake with HUNTER KELLER More as the year goes on.
I know there are other festivals and weekends here and lots of other places.....look them up!!!!!!!!
They will be listed here and in RoguevSquares Newsletter and lots of other square dance sites. Look around and go places or stay home and dance. There are many wonderful callers and cuers to entertain our dancing feet.
We are going to plan some potlucks this Spring sponsored by our January class.......no dates have been set so keep you ears open....
Mexican Train Potluck Nite has been such fun. We have done it twice so far and probably again this month too. But as I write no date has yet been set....contact me or Roberta for the date...
So come on out to our classes and our dances. Bring a friend. If you are not dancing right now come and visit.....
Ladies to the center..............
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)Our annual TVC Presidents Meeting & Potluck for current and past club Presidents will be held at the IOOF Hall, 267 East Main Street, Hillsboro, OR 97123 on January 22nd with the potluck dinner starting at 6:00 and meeting at 7:00. All TVC club Presidents & dancers are invited to join us. The TVC wishes to thank all the presidents of the TVC Clubs for volunteering their time and efforts into this activity we all love. Also, at this meeting the TVC President, Dale Brabham, will announce the recipient of the Tualatin Valley Council “Recognition Award” for outstanding service and special contribution to the square dance community within the TVC geographical area.
Our next Council event is the Spring Fling Dance, held March 31 at the Kinton Grange, 19015 SW Scholls Ferry Rd, Beaverton, OR 97007. This dance will feature Janienne Alexander calling with Mark McDonald cueing. The dance begins with pre-rounds at 7:30 followed by Mainstream with rounds at 8:00. Every third tip will be Plus. This dance is hosted by the Tualatin Timber Squares.
Ferrous Steinka
December was cold and Christmas was close at hand so the turnout was low although the dancing was fast and hot. Those of use that did dance had a great time with the Stouts calling and cueing on the 9th and Jim on the 23rd. Thanks to the Grange the hall was nicely decorated for the Christmas season.
Lessons are still being started the first Tuesday of each month under Jim's leadership, so if you have friends you would like to learn send them of the grange. Beginners are from 7 to 8:30 and mainstream following.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in Albany.
Nick Johnson
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)After a very successful Plus Class last year we are repeating our program starting at Monday noon, February 5th, running through May. If you are thinking about learning or brushing up on Plus come join us. We will have the same three great callers giving the lessons: Daryl Clendenin, Jim Hattrick, and Darrell Kalmbach. Call Sally (503-645-2414) or Karen (503-649-9487) to sign up and learn more.
Celebrate Presidents’ Day on the 19th by coming to visit the Eager Beavers. We will be dancing with our Plus class starting at noon then continuing with our usual dance at 1:15 to 3:00 pm.
TVC’s New Year Dance at the IOOF Hall in Hillsboro was co-hosted by the Sunset Promenaders assisted by a bunch of dedicated volunteers. Thanks to all those who made the dance a success. The 2018 TVC New Year Dance will be co-hosted by Eager Beavers and Sunset Promenaders.
Naomi Coorengel and Carolyn Hindman earned their Ambassador's Badges in December. Congratulations to both.
Kay Rogers reported that dancers going to USAWest may ride a train to Reno, NV. Call Kay about signing up.
Rachel Nettleton
February 5 (1st Mon)
February 12 (2nd Mon)
February 19 (3rd Mon)
February 26 (4th Mon)On the 9th of December, we held our Spirit of Giving Dance, an evening of Christmas music and gift giving. Thanks to all who put toys under the tree for needy kids. Mike and Sally Duyck love dropping those gifts off.
The very next day, Sunday, December 10th, was our annual New Dancer Jamboree. It’s always great fun to see the students you’ve been dancing with each week at lessons flourish on the floor with regular dancers and students from other programs. Five squares enjoyed the brilliant, sunny afternoon on the dance floor.
The Aloha Grange #773 reaches out to all of their tenants to help with their adopting a needy family each year for the holiday season. The Hoedowners were given a list of the families’ wishes we donated money and gifts to fulfill their requests. The delivery to the family was made Sunday, December 17th and we received an update, thank you cards and a photo of the Brown family. We’re all thankful to the Grange for giving all of us the opportunity to reach out to others during the holiday season.
December 23rd was our Christmas Dance and last chance in 2017 to dance to Christmas music. We had over five squares dancing and celebrating pre Christmas Eve.
Many of our members attended the TVC New Year's Eve dance to ring in the new year. Hoedowners came in 2nd place in attendance with Sunset Promenaders coming in 1st winning the TVC Banner.
The Hoedowners have been developing a new club outfit. A seven member subcommittee started meeting in June, making suggestions, looking at other club outfits and discussing options. In November the membership was notified that the subcommittee had decided on a shirt design and had narrowed the skirt choices to two. The outfits have been worn or on display at lessons and dances since then and voting began on December 5th. The choice has been made and we intend to premier our new Club Outfit at Mid-Winter Festival. Hope to see you there!
February 10th will see us celebrating chocolate and Oregon’s birthday at our Queen of Hearts Dance.
February 24th we’ll celebrate our 68th Anniversary Dance. How was 1950? Well the year began with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer at #1 on the charts and Tennessee Waltz wrapped the year at the top. Both songs are classics and so are the Hoedowners. Please join us for a Chicken Dinner which begins at 6:15. We’ll be serving until the food runs out.
Krystal Laas
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)Two days later icy sidewalks and roads canceled a lot of activities, so here again is the reminder: check our website whenever you have doubts as to whether the dance is on or the weather has compelled a cancellation.
Patty Bonney
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 17 (3rd Sat)R Square D had a Christmas party on December 18th. We started with a pot luck, a short business meeting and a gift exchange. It is always fun to see what items are in demand as we are allowed to steal each gift two times. Home made items are always a hit.
R Square D was dark on December 23rd so that club members could enjoy Christmas with family members. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The snow is falling as I write this report. A white Christmas would be nice, as long as I can stay inside and watch.
For more information about us please visit our website at www.r-square-d.info or friend us on Facebook. Our caller for R Square D is Craig Abercrombie and our cuer is Lonnie Sycks.
Toni Carroll
February 24 (4th Sat)The Club has started our Mainstream lessons and are hoping for a great class like the one we had last year. Last year we graduated 10 new dancers and all of them are enjoying the club and dancing with us. Some of them are already working as club officers, etc. It is encouraging to watch how they are volunteering their time and helping with the club work.
The Sunset Promenaders hosted the Annual TVC New Year’s Eve dance and it was a fun dance for 90 dancers with national caller Dan Nordbye calling and Julie Stiers cueing. Dan announced at the dance that he is moving to Oregon in April to live.
Darrell Kalmbach, our Thursday night Plus Dance caller is now the club caller for the River City Dancers too. They dance at Milwaukie Community Center on the 2nd and 3rd Saturdays.
Our February dance calendar is:
• February 1st our Thursday evening Plus Dance 7:00 to 9:30 with Darrell and Ken calling and cueing.
• February 3rd our Saturday evening Mainstream Dance 7:00 to 9:30 with Mike Stout and Ken Pratt calling and cueing. The dance theme is Mardi Gras so expect a wild and fun time.
• February 15th, Thursday Plus Dance, with Darrell and Ken.
• February 17th, Saturday Mainstream Dance, with Mike and Ken the theme is Valentine Dance so bring your sweetheart and enjoy.
Please check out our new website at www.sunsetpromenaders.com
Tom & Janice Sminia
February 3 (1st Sat)Our Black and Blue Ball was a memorable one with our new students attending. They are a fun bunch. January 19th is our regular dance but knowing our club nothing is just regular, thanks to KC and Bev.
January 7th Bev and Harlan Flint began Round Dance lessons. They are being held at the Kinton Grange on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. Come join in on the fun.
We hope to see you at Mid Winter Festival down in Albany.
Our February dances include two special ones. February 2nd is our Ground Hog Dance and February 16th is our Sweetheart Ball. Come join us for both. We love visitors.
Pat Olson
February 2 (1st Fri)
February 16 (3rd Fri)Everyone is invited to come to our anchor dance, The Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball, on Saturday, February 10th. This year we will have a number of very special items to raffle off. Examples? Your one-dollar ticket might get you a $100 gift certificate to Les Schwab at Washington Square, or a $160 wine tasting tour at Willamette Valley Vineyards for you and seven of your friends! Put on your mask and boa feathers and come dance with us!
Gloria Davis
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 23 (4th Fri)Callers – CALLERLAB this year will be featuring a class on Sunday before the convention on how to call with a live band. Come join me! You can register at: http://www.callerlab.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=GNrzzxk6dRs%3d&portalid=1
The weeks in between our LIVE band sessions, we will have progressive lessons dancing to pre-recorded music.
Clubs – Consider having a field trip with your students to one of our band nights. Let us know ahead of time and we’ll put an extra crockpot on for you!
Janienne Alexander
We hosted the Grange’s 150th anniversary celebration at our first dance in December. Called by Craig Abercrombie, it was also the trophy dance. Carolene awarded the prize to Hoedowners.
Our Christmas Dance featured Connie cueing and Mark Wheeler calling.
Ugly sweaters were donned for our visitation to Tualatin Timber Squares party.
Patt Hawthorne
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 17 (3rd Sat)The Wednesday night square dance classes resumed on January 4th at the downtown Tillamook Elks Lodge. These lessons are FREE and are taught by Joe Wrabek from 6 to 8pm.
Joe Wrabek
The Umpqua Council sponsors four nights of dancing at the Douglas County Fair each year, and all proceeds from this dance help to pay for the callers and cuers. Admission to the dance will be $5 per dancer.
We are about 2/3 of the way through our fall session of mainstream lessons. The students are doing great and looking forward to our New Dancer Dance this month. They are also looking forward to joining us at Mid-Winter and catching up with our friends from all over Oregon. There are 11 students who have already decided to become Buckeroos! We are looking forward to welcoming them to our club and having them join as angels when we begin our new session of mainstream lessons on February 2, 2018.
Our special fifth Saturday dance on December 30th was a huge success! Scott Zinser came down from Portland and called the squares. We had a chance to dance both mainstream and plus. Instead of having rounds between tips we had line dances. The DC Line Dancing Group joined us for the evening. They got us out on the floor for a few line dances, and Scott got them out on the floor for a tip. We had a ton of fun and hope to do some joint dances in the future.
We rang in the New Year on December 31st with Chuck Simpkins and Neil Koozer. Everyone, including our new dancers, enjoyed a festive celebration. Spending time with people you enjoy and dancing in the New Year is one of the best ways to spend New Year’s Eve!
During our dance on January 6th we had our first Chili Competition. The competition was fun and delicious with many yummy entries. Club member Lynnette Gibson won the top award for 2018! We hope to see many more entries next year, and for those who would rather be judges you are welcome as well.
Remember… we are just a short drive south from the Portland area, so plan to join us in the near future. We dance the first and third Saturdays and always enjoy having visitors. We have members of all ages and are a family friendly club.
Happy dancing,
Robin P. Faltersack
February 3 (1st Sat)
February 17 (3rd Sat)
The Dancing Friends had only been having one dance a year, and that was enough to maintain club status. A few years back, they started weekly lessons and invited the Buckeroos. This has been advantageous for both groups. The Dancing Friends are once again an active and growing club!
Doris Koozer
February 10 (2nd Sat)
February 24 (4th Sat)